Another Day, Another Mideast War

The chairs of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees said Tuesday briefings lead them to believe Syrian President Bashar al Assad has crossed President Obama’s “red line” and used a chemical weapons on his citizens, and that U.S. military action should be taken once this is confirmed.

“This is highly classified and we have been advised to be careful with what we say,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CNN.

“I’m told that the White House has been briefed…and the White House has to make some decisions in this. I think the days are becoming more desperate and the regime is more desperate and we know where the chemical weapons are. It’s not a secret that they’re there and I think the probabilities are very high that we’re going into some very dark times. I think the White House needs to be prepared now that both committees have been fully briefed,” she said.

“I have a high probability to believe chemical weapons were used,” he told CNN. “We need that final verification but given everything we know over the last year and a half, I…would come to the conclusion that they are either positioned for use or in fact have been used, and in both of those scenarios I think we need to step up in the world community to prevent a humanitarian disaster.”

The evidence was incontrovertible, captured on video and posted on YouTube for all the world to see. During a demonstration against the Syrian regime, Wael Ibrahim, a veteran activist, had tossed aside a banner inscribed with the Muslim declaration of faith.

And that, decreed the officers of the newly established Sharia Authority set up to administer rebel-held Aleppo, constitutes a crime under Islamic law, punishable in this instance by 10 strokes of a metal pipe.

The beating administered last month offered a vivid illustration of the extent to which the Syrian revolution has strayed from its roots as a largely spontaneous uprising against four decades of Assad family rule. After mutating last year into a full-scale war, it is moving toward what appears to be an organized effort to institute Islamic law in areas that have fallen under rebel control.

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31 Responses to Another Day, Another Mideast War

Ideally, we’ll send drones to destroy the chemical weapons stockpiles, at a time when Jihadist forces are in the vicinity trying to sieze them. The surviving non-Jihadists will then overwhelm the Assad regime.

Fat chance.

But seriously, actual use of chemical weapons is not something to lightly overlook.

Why does everyone get so excitable when it comes the chemical weapons? How is being obliterated by 500 pounds of TNT any less horrific than suffocating on phosgene gas? Based on some of the videos available online, it’s not like the rebels are fully comporting themselves to the laws of war either. If it gets to be too out of hand, Israeli f-15s are as good as USAF f-15s. They’ll sort it out.

While Charles’ tone may have been cheeky, the message is exactly correct: however terrible the situation in Syria is, the United States has not been attacked, nor does the Syrian situation affect vital American interests, and thus US military action — whether unilateral or under NATO auspices — has no justification. Interventionists might have a leg to stand on if the proposal on the table were American contribution to a UN peacekeeping force approved by the Security Council (General Assembly?), but as a nationalist who opposes in principle the placing of American troops under the command of the “international community,” I don’t care for that either.

Humanitarian aid, some non-combatant logistical support, I could live with.

There is much evil in the world and always has been. America ought not to be a messianic empire, but rather a citizen’s republic enlightening the world with its example of liberty.

The “red line” is flawed by design. As soon as we said that we would intervene if Assad used chemical weapons, the rebels became incentivized to use them themselves. A false flag isnt even needed, just a pointed finger and a cynical “they did it,” which is after all what many of us want to hear.

This is the problem with “red lines”. Once they are established, those who desire our intervention will find a way to ensure they are crossed.

The last I’d heard, both the rebels and the Assad regime had been accusing each other of using chemical weapons, with no actual evidence that chemical weapons had been used by anyone. That information may be out of date, but it would appear to be in line with the rebel forces seeking to find a way to induce us to do their dirty work for them.

The Texan who is to be the Chalabi of Syria has been anointed; that was the real sign that a new U.S. ground war was to break out to make Syria a western satrapy. Once that invasion has been declared, what’s not to prevent that being an automatic trigger for war with ally Iran, the ultimate aim?

Where is Congressional oversight of the Dictocrat’s warmaking powers? Has our system of government finally succumbed to abandoning all accountability to its citizens, substituting fealty to the elites who care nothing for the common people either here or abroad, but only their own financial interests?

If the road to Tehran wasn’t through Baghdad, it’s hoped another can be through Damascus. That road is sure to be littered with the IEDs of provocations.

One thing can certainly be predicted; the only way to push off the finality of judgment against the unacceptable outcomes of the last ten years, is to double down on them. The war party’s grip is loosening, which makes it a moment of the most dangerous crisis when provocation for war will be fevered to a high pitch by all available propaganda.

Poverty is sure to settle on mainstream America, while our bankster elites and their clients fatten. And the oil sought, even if secured, won’t be sold to us at economical prices, even though we will have paid all the costs to try to capture it for them, the profits for which also accrue to them.

Chemical weapons are bad, but then again so is being blown to pieces with artillery fire. Anyone who follows WW1 history will know that the bulk of the deaths were from artillery and those that survived often suffered horrific injuries. Why chemical weapons are a “red line” but bombing an area to pieces is acceptable, I don’t know.

But didn’t I read a report (yesterday?) that the rebels have used chemical weapons? What are the tiebreakers in that case?

Seriously, if Obama is able to resist the warmongers in Congress, including those of his own party, with respect to Iran as well as Syria, then the vote I cast for him in 2008 will not have been wasted, despite everything else he has done (and failed to do) since then.

It’s particularly absurd for us to react to (reported) use of chemical weapons, when any US military response will doubtless include depleted uranium weapons.

The beating administered last month offered a vivid illustration of the extent to which the Syrian revolution has strayed from its roots as a largely spontaneous uprising against four decades of Assad family rule.

spontaneous uprising… ROTFLMAO!!!!

There is nothing spontaneous about this rebellion, We, the Gulf States and the Europeans are waging a proxy war against Iran. The Assad isn’t falling fast enough, it’s time to bring in the Heavy Artillery ie Western Troops…

Unfortunately no one has asked the Turk what they think about this, nor the Kurds, nor Hezbollah…

Be advised that CS gas is a “chemical weapon”. It’s essentially tear gas and it is used by police for riot control. So watch how how “chemical” might be spun amongst the classified info.

“Could someone explain to me why what happens in Syria is so important that US lives and tax dollars need to be spent there?”

The other thing is that Syria, like Iran is ruled by Shia. The Shia are vehemently hated by the radical Sunnis who run Saudi and the Gulf States. And so yes, the road to Tehran is through Damascus so that the Saudis can take out all their Shia enemies.

Israel is often to blame for pushing much of the recent wars in the Middle East, but I think the real culprits are the Saudis. Interesting rhetorical question, how come there are no drones in Saudi which is a place where most of the 911 killers came from?

Technically gunpowder is a chemical weapon since violent oxidation is what makes bullets dangerous.

My dad spent his career in a chemical plant working with some rather toxic substances. They either made them as products or used them as the input reactants to everyday products. Most highly reactive chemicals (e.g. ammonia and chlorine) have a biting smell that instantly alerts you to your danger. Phosgene was feared because it’s a deadly notable exception. Its musty sweet smell won’t initially alarm you, but it will wreck your lungs in short order.

JohnE_o said:

Could someone explain to me why what happens in Syria is so important that US lives and tax dollars need to be spent there?

There’s always money to be made off wars for weapons manufactures. That’s why there’s always a steady drumbeat for it.

Let me say something nice about Obama. I just don’t see him committing troops on the ground there in significant numbers. Certainly not without similar contributions from what Rumsfeld once termed “Old Europe.” I just don’t see him wanting to repeat LBJ’s great mistake.

I am a little suprised at how many people on this site seem to think the Turks would have a problem with the US taking out Assad. You have not been keeping up with who is doing what over there.

That said, it is hard to imagine how US intervention can make things better over there even on a pure altruistic sense, never mind in the national interest sense.

Sadly, I think this type of bloodletting in only going to become more common regardless of what the US does or does not do. The fall of the former Yugoslavia should have been a warning. Iraq was destined to go down the same road but the US started the party early. Libya and Syria are just continuations of the same trend. And there are plenty of more countries with the same type of powder keg waiting to happen.

Don Quijote, there WAS a spontaneous uprising, once upon a time, no matter who or how many parties have hijacked it for their own ends. We’ve seen twice (also Libya) that when peaceful protest is met with sustained armed force, a different leadership comes to the fore, and those with the money to provide the arms become dominant. But there WAS a spontaneous uprising, and that’s getting lost in the sauce of hopes and fears now on the table.

But there WAS a spontaneous uprising, and that’s getting lost in the sauce of hopes and fears now on the table.

A) There is no such thing as a spontaneous uprising, they require organization and coordination…
B) Where did it happen? Every major city or just a couple of small towns?
C) When did it happen?
D) How do you know that these so called spontaneous uprising were not the equivalent the “Orange Revolution”?

If I am reading the Syrian Situation correctly, what we had was the local equivalent of OWS, a bunch of privileged college kids protesting the regime with minimal organization, no military wing and a lack of broad base support to fall back on that would have been handled by either co-opting, imprisoning or exiling the leadership, until foreigners got involved. Now it’s a free for all…

Since “There are no spontaneous uprisings,” well, of course, obviously Syria hasn’t had one, because there is no such thing, so it couldn’t be happening in Syria. Yeah, and PBS doesn’t have commercials, because everyone knows there are no commercials on public television.

what we had was the local equivalent of OWS, a bunch of privileged college kids protesting the regime with minimal organization, no military wing and a lack of broad base support to fall back on that would have been handled by either co-opting, imprisoning or exiling the leadership, until foreigners got involved.

Have you considered applying for a job in the Syrian media ministry… I mean, working for Bashar Assad’s regime?

MY reading is more like, the local equivalent of OWS crossed with Tea Party 2.0, probably a good number of college kids to start with, that touched a nerve in the general population leading to mass participation, and due to the broad base of support, the regime had to either fold, or kill. When the killing began, foreigners got involved.